Here is a re-cap of how Week 1 went. Lots of water was consumed, and dairy was very limited. Got Kirra to try Almond Milk and Soy milk and she didn’t like either one…so her and Jason will remain on cows milk. Because we ate more often through out the day I won’t bore you with everything we possibly ate- but will give you our dinners. We successfully made it through the whole week (minus Monday night) with no processed food (except white rice really/and the ravioli) I feel great, and didn’t feel like I was really limiting myself on other stuff too much. We did have a bit more refined whole wheats than I would have liked,but we didn’t want to throw anything away. Monday: Lots of water was consumed. Very limited dairy today. Only in my coffee creamer. Bought Almond milk to try tonight, and its surprisingly very very delicious, and lower in sugars and everything ‘bad’ than cows milk/soy etc. Tonight we had Kirra’s kindergarten screen,and didn’t finish until 7pm. So we went out for fast food. As maybe a “last supper”. Dinner: LeAnn Chins (go big or go home with bad food right?) Tuesday: Again lots of water was consumed. A bit more dairy today but no milk. Only in my coffee creamer. Drinking Almond Milk for an after dinner treat and loving it. Dinner: Cheese, and chicken Tortilini and spaghetti sauce with WHITE noodles. Side salad of spinach leafs. Got Kirra to try Almond Milk, but she wasn’t too fond of it. Probably because it has such a different taste compared to cows milk. Wednesday: 80 oz of water today. Same Dairy intake. Dinner: Paprika Chicken with steamed green beans and white rice. Everyone loved it. This would be good with whole wheat pasta, brown rice, barley or couscous. Thursday: Tonight was tricky since I had play-group. Found a juice that only contained 10oz of sugar,and we had Triscuts and apples available. Santa came to our house though and bought all the kids candy canes. Dinner: Chicken Salad with Vadilia Onion Sauce Friday: Dinner: Crunchy Curried Chicken Salad (with yogurt as a binder) It was greek yogurt which I’m NOT a fan of. – I know…dairy slip… but i’ve come to terms that sometimes I’ll have to cook with Dairy for certain recipes. As long as i’m not downing half a gallon of milk at dinner and still abstain from it in general…. Saturday: First time trying Tilapia. It was really really good. Dinner: Potato Crusted Tilapia with steamed vegetables Sunday: Dinner: Garbanzo Bean Tacos. with whole wheat shells. Really freaking delicious!!! I would DEFINITELY make this again. Summary: Our 1 week experiment with eating whole foods really wasn’t a bad transition. I think this went easier than last time,because we’re not also trying to implement an amazingly hard workout routine with it. (Insanity) While I wont’ be drinking too much milk – I probably won’t give up cheese, yogurt, or mayo when required as a cooking agent, or part of it. I had no pop and no junk food. We even got Kirra to ask for healthy snacks. So – here’s to week 2 of clean eating!

Jason and I watched a documentary last week called Forks over Knives which was about eating whole foods and eating a plant based diet. We researched it – checked out numerous library books, and cookbooks. I had previously read a book called the Omnivore’s Dilemma, and watched Food Inc. and Meet your Meat. We first thought about entertaining a full out vegan diet. Free of any animal products, and were going to try that for a month and see what results we got. (After you watch Meet your Meat you’ll want to entertain the idea as well). After scouting out the options,we settled on a happy medium [for us]. We’re going to cut out red meat, but will eat fish and chicken [caught ourselves/raised humanely]. We also plan to add a lot more whole grains, fruits, vegetables,and definitely WHOLE FOODS. I am personally going to cut out dairy. Do any kind of research and you’ll know why. Cheese is going to be very very difficult. Not because I munch on cheese all day or NEED to have it in everything, but because many recipes call for it. I will try though. We will substitute some of our chicken and fish meals with beans for protein and hopefully see better results, a healthier body and minds. We’re going to kick the habit (again) of eating junky processed foods and focus on healthier eating. We did try this back in February-April, and fell off the wagon,but hopefully with dedication, and better meal and SNACK planning we will stay on. And hey – if we fall off we can always get back on. One slip up doesn’t mean the end of healthy eating! So I will blog about our journey once a week and let you know how its going. Bon Appétit http://www.100daysofrealfood.com

Since we’ve brought Sadie home she has spent several nights in the bathroom ( to limit where accidents are) a handful of nights in our bedroom (because we couldn’t take the crying) although then its like a treasure hunt to see where she has all had accidents… and finally we’re now crate training. Night 1 in the crate we put her in around 11pm,and boy did she whine, and cry and thrash around in there. Of course its not fun being in a crate especially when you’ve gotten to sleep with your owners on a tempurpedic mattress… but we didn’t want the accidents… and I actually got less sleep when she’s NOT in her crate. We gave up on Thursday into Friday around 1am. Friday Sadie had her first shot,and her vet check which went well. They said she is really really healthy looking, and had no concerns. We go back in around a month for more shots! She even got a nail trim, and her ears cleaned out! Friday night into Saturday night (just last night) we went for crate training number 2. All of the research says that on overnights you have to be ‘hardcore’ and not give into whining, crying,barking and thrashing. That you have to completely ignore it so they don’t think that you’ll come to them every time they whine. Instead they will learn that crying is futile. We ignored her successfully, and everyone got some sleep! When she is not napping (which she does very frequently) she is out every 2 hours or so, and is getting pretty good at potty training. 🙂 She does very well in the crate when we’re away for a few hours, and its nice to know we can leave without our house being destroyed, or her, or any of our animals being in danger.

Since we’ve owned Tyler in 2005 I always kind of wanted a smaller dog… but Jason wasn’t usually too fond of the smaller breeds… in about 2009 or so Jason has agreed that a Jack Russell Terrier breed would be a good choice, and I really really wanted a JRT. My friend had one as well, so I knew about their personalities, and I had done lots of research. Well I finally found a breeder that didn’t cost an arm and a leg… so the Wednesday after Kirra’s birthday (11/16) Lisa, Kirra and I headed up to Clearwater, MN to get …..Sadie….. She is 9 weeks old, 5 pounds, and a little ball of energy when she is not cuddling and napping.

I’m still really feeling under the weather, and to be frank I’m SICK of it. Not that being sick is ever fun, but this is one helluva cold, and it’s kicking me hard. I want to just perpetually stay in bed, and have IV fluids give me all the replenishment I need, so I can sleep and not worry about needing to drink water. Once we got home Kirra and I were playing barbies, and she was playing Cinderella (which Sara got her at the MOA), and she showed Ken her underwear, and said, “Ken… don’t you like my underwear?” Ken [me]: CInderella, that is inappropriate. You should never show kens your unders. Cinderella: But they’re so pretty look at them. (puts barbies butt in kens face) Ken: Cinderella, that is naughty. Cinderella: Show me your underwear, I showed you mine. ** Play is formally interrupted. “Kirra. inappropriate” We haven’t played undie barbie since… I’m a bit worried about her sometimes :-). I’ve now been playing barbies with her for over an hour… which is a miracle,and a new record for me. I don’t know how I have lasted this long! It’s like a marathon!

Well I haven’t posed for a while, or what seems to be a while! We’re in the sick house…all three of us. Last weekend Kirra came down with Croup and a gamete of other ailments, and still has a lingering cough. As a present for taking care of her all last week, daddy and I now have said virus. Sniffly, drippy, stuffy nose, coughing etc. I’m hoping we’re going to be fully or semi recovered by tomorrow since we’re trick or treating. We’ve invited Pam & Phil, and Frank & Theo to join us so they can see Kirra dressed up, and also because they never really get too many trick or treaters out where they live. Kirra’s going as Dorothy tomorrow, which she’s wanted to be since last year. Last night Jason, Kirra and I carved our pumpkins. Kirra did not particularly like cleaning her pumpkin and thought it was -gross-. She wanted a kitty cat,I made a haunted house,and Jason did an eye ball. I’m debating between taking a nap and running down to the camera store and buying a new bag. I need to get one before this wedding we’re going to next week because my stuff barely fits in mine anymore. Decisions Decisions….

We had a very simple weekend here! Friday Jason had to work semi late so K and I just hung out and watched some Curious George and Super Y while we waited for daddy to come home. I had the itch to go out…so I ended up going up to the local bowling ally where they also have free Texas hold em. This is where Jason normal goes. It was fun and the drinks were really cheap! I ended up loosing within an hour and half so I went home and went to bed. Saturday Jason had to work again, so I brought Kirra to dance class and then we came home and did a home makeover…aka cleaned the house and took a nap before our evening outing. Lisa, Miah, Amillie, Jason, and I went to the Pinehaven Dead End Trail! It was super fun despite the hour long line, and we all got scared or jumped at one point. Today I brought Kirra to church with me and I served in the walkers room! Then I was off for Hudson Wisconsin for my cousins wedding shower. It was great to see everyone,and see what the newlyweds were getting! I did a quick photoshoot for my cousin Jen and her 60s something classic mustang! It had been her dads,and he had gotten it all ratty tatty,and had always wanted to fix it up. So after he passed away Jen took over and finished the job for her dad. I think she did an amazing job, and I know Terr Bear is smiling down from heaven at all the work that she’s done! I ended up taking the scenic route home to take more photos of the autumn scenery except I was kind of unmotivated, and the fall colors seemed to vanish. Everything is just brown now… ugly and brown. I did think of a new photo project I’m going to embark on and that is photographing churches. I think churches come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, brand new with deco designs, and very old and vintage, with olde time architecture! It’s all so fascinating to me,and I think it would make for a neat assignment. Once home Kirra was still napping, so I napped too. Jason made us homemade pizza for dinner, and then Kirra and I finished off the night by playing Doctor. She brought her baby over to me and told me her baby’s neck hurt. When I (playing the doctor) asked what happened, she said they were just on a school bus, and a pack of skunks hopped on the bus and attacked them and sprayed them. She has been super fascinated with skunks now for several weeks! I thought it was so funny…. We read books,and hopped into bed. I’m pushing cinderella behavior right now so I best finish posting, and get in bed myself!